don

\dɔ̃\

/\dɔ̃\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“don” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #1,589 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,589
frequency rank, French
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Action d’offrir à quelqu’un quelque chose, de lui en abandonner la propriété ou présent qu’on lui fait ainsi.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

don vs du
33% similar
don vs dr
33% similar
don vs Ds
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for don
PropertyValue
Headworddon
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\dɔ̃\
Letters3
Frequency rank#1,589
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “don” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). don lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for don is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \dɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #1,589 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for don, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "du", "dr", "Ds", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is don, spelled D-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Action d’offrir à quelqu’un quelque chose, de lui en abandonner la propriété ou présent qu’on lui fait ainsi.
  2. 2
    Chose donnée.
  3. 3
    Abandon ou délaissement gratuit à quelqu’un d’un objet ainsi accordé.
  4. 4
    Donation entre conjoints de l’usufruit de leur bien, pour que le survivant en jouisse.
  5. 5
    Biens, qualités physiques ou morales, avantages qu’on reçoit à la naissance.
  6. 6
    Aptitude.
  7. 7
    Aptitude magique permettant de guérir les brûlures et autres affections de la peau.

Synonyms

cadeauoffrandeaumônedonationlegsaptitude

This word in other languages

present(English)Spende(Deutsch)doação(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "don"?
"don" is spelled D-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \dɔ̃\.
What does "don" mean?
As a noun, "don" means: Action d’offrir à quelqu’un quelque chose, de lui en abandonner la propriété ou présent qu’on lui fait ainsi.
What words are commonly confused with "don"?
"don" is commonly confused with "du", "dr", "Ds". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "don"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "don" is \dɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "don" come from?
"don" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “don”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is D-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \dɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “du” - see the side-by-side comparison. don vs du
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list